Internal-combustion engine.



G. W. WHITE. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGiNE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.27.1917.

1,244,566. Patented Oct. 30, 1911 in w D IN NT0R GEORGE W. WHITE, 01E SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

mrnnnan-comnusrron Enema.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

Application filed February 27, 1917. Serial No. 151,245.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WHITE, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, ,in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in internal combustion engines and refers more particularly to a fuel gasifymg device onthe head of the piston, the main object of which is to permit the use of the cheaper grades of gasolene and other inferior hydrocarbons, at the same time to produce as high, if not a higher, degree of combustibility and explosive power than would be produced by the higher grades or more expensive hydrocarbon fuels.

In other words, I have sought to provide the piston with a simple and comparatively inexpensive attachment whereby an inferior fuel will be more thoroughly atomized and brought into a more effective mixture w1th the in-fiowing air after their introduction into the combustion chamber and at the same time gradually increasing the gasification of such mixtureduring the compression stroke of the piston, so that the maximum degree of gasification occurs at about the same time that the mixture is underhighest compression by the action of the piston; Other objects and advantages relative to specific parts of the device will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the piston equipped with one form of my improved fuel gasifying device.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cylinder and piston of an internal combustion engine showing the same fuel gasifying device.

The preferred form of my invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 may be attached to the head of any of the standard forms of pistons now in common use in internal combustion engines and comprises a comparatively thin sheet metal plate -'1 of steel or other suitable metal capable of withstanding the heat to which it is subjected without appreciable deformation and is provided with a circumferential series of substantially radial fins or wings 2 and another circumferential series of axially extending wings or fins 3 alternating with the radial wings -2.

All of these fins or wings 2- and 3 are. integrally united at their bases to the main body of the plate 1 and are preferably formed by making radial slits in the plate from the periphery inwardly along radial lines toward the center and then bending the alternate segments, as 3, axially, or at right angles to the plane of the main body while the wings or fins -2 are preferably deflected slightly from said plane away from the head of the piston so that the disk is somewhat concavo-convex with its convex side adjacent the piston head, as (a), and clamped to the center thereof by bolt -4, said bolt being held in spaced relation to the head of the piston by means of an interposed washer or equivalent spac- 'mg device 5-, the purpose of which is to allow the free circulation of the in-flowing fuel across the bottom and top of the plate to reduce liability of overheating said plate to incandescence by the combustion of the explosive mixture.

The general plan of the disk plate 1- is circular and of less diameter than that of the piston to which it is secured so as not to interfere-in any way with the free action of said piston, at the same time leaving an annular space between its periphery and side walls of the cylinder, as (A) to allow the in-flowing fuel to travel entirely around the same.

The axial deflection of the free ends of the wings or fins 3.leaves a space of corresponding width between the radial wings or fins 2, the purpose of which is to cause a more thorough agitation of the liquid fuel and air when flowing into the combustion chamber to produce a similar effect as the piston moves toward the head,

of the cylinder where the spark plug, as (b) is located, that is, the fuel and air are free to flow around and between the radial fins 2- and also around and between the axially extending fins 3, the effect of which is to thoroughly pulverize the hydrocarbon and produce a more thorough mixture thereof with the air, thus greatly increasing the combustibility of the mixture.

The piston is shown by full lines at the limit of its power stroke and by dotted lines at the limit of its inward or compression stroke and from these two positions, it

will be readily understood that as the fuel is drawn into the combustion chamber during the suction stroke, either in a t-cycle or .Z-cycle engine, the particular arrangement of the two sets of fins, those of each being in spaced relation, allows the in-fiowing fuels to impinge against the sides of said fins, thereby producing a pulverization. of the hydrocarbon and thoroughly mixing the same with the air as previously described.

It is also evident that as the piston advances toward the head of the cylinder, the fuel will be further penetrated and agitated by the fins ,2 and -3- as the compression of the mixture gradually increases and as the highly compressed gases are penetrated by said fins, the heat imparted thereto by the previous explosions will be transmitted to said gases and thereby increasing their expansive force and power as the piston reaches the limit of its compression stroke so that the combined effect of pulverizing or atomizing the. fuel and thereby increasing its ability to more thoroughly mix with the air together with the heating of the mixture by the penetration of the heated fins thereinto while under a maximum degree of compression will cause the production from a relatively inferior fuel of a higher degree of power equal to or greater than that which might be produced by the highest grade of gasolene without my attachment.

At each explosion of the mixture,rthese fins become highly heated but this heat is menace somewhat reduced as the piston recedes increased explosive force of the gas as the piston approaches or reaches the limit of its compression stroke with the result that the highly heated and highly compressed gases produce an extremely high degree of power upon ignition which takes place simultaneously with the maximum degree of compression, all of which permits the use of a relatively low grade and comparatively inexpensive fuel without sacrifice of power.

What I claim is In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston movable therein, a plate secured to the head of the piston and provided with a set of radially extending fins and another, set of axially Eitending fins alternating with the radial s. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of February 1917. GEORGE W. WHITE. Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, M. Vrom Howmno. 

